trails and parking lots

Guess who is a PR'ing machine? This girl! Last weekend I ran in the Hartwell Dam 10k and not only finished 2 minutes under my goal time, but I placed 3rd in my age division! I am now the proud owner of a mug. I've had a really good racing season so far, and am looking forward to keeping up the trend. A dear friend of mine, Maggie, has agreed to drive 45 minutes once a week so we can run trails together. I'm a little nervous. I've always been an asphalt/concrete kind of girl. Not so much into sticks, rocks, and possible wildlife sightings. However, I read an issue of Trail Runner Magazine the other day, and was convinced that running trails will help make me faster. If I don't break an ankle that is.      

In other news, we're still potty training. There has been progress, but still a whole lot of pooping in the pants. He's tired of having to sit every 13 minutes, and I'm tired of fighting with him to sit every 13 minutes. I'm just trying to remember that only a few short weeks ago I was knee deep in urine soaked underwear. It's hard to keep things in perspective when you feel the end is no where in sight.

We've started taking our Lighting McQueen potty with us when we leave the house. On Sunday, after church, we went to Athens for lunch and to pick up a few things. W sat on his potty, in the trunk of the car, before we went into Panera, and then again as we were leaving. Then again in the parking lot at Academy Sports. It's a good thing that I have no shame, because otherwise I would be horrified. I'm one of those people that does crazy things with their children in public. When did that happen? When did I become one of those people?

You could tell by the looks we were receiving who had children and who didn't. Mothers and fathers of older children gave us sympathetic "been there, done that / may the force with be with you" looks, while the not yet encumbered by children couples were clearly frightened and thinking "I hope that never happens to me". I tried to concentrate on telepathically convincing W to go to the bathroom so we could pack up the sideshow and get on the road. Eventually, the timer went off and we were able to move on, but not without providing someone with a funny anecdote to share with their family and friends. That's what it has come to - making other people feel good about themselves because their kid isn't sitting on a portable potty in the trunk of a car in a store parking lot. You're welcome people, you're welcome. Glad we could help.